Overview of the Week
This week had a little bit of everything thrown in except for running. There was walking, hiking, biking, lifting, and even a little stretching… Here’s my complete rundown of workouts from this past week. Scroll down for details from each day.
Sunday
My ride on Sunday consisted of a mixed bag of cycling perfection. I headed out a half hour before meeting Betsy to get a few miles under my belt since I wanted to ride longer than our planned 27-30 miles. I did circles in our neighborhood practicing my cadence and stopped at her driveway right at our designated time. Together we rode to the W&OD Trail where we headed west to Clarke’s Gap. It’s a long climb, but the downhill ride back into Leesburg is fun!
Just as I was saying goodbye to Betsy before turning around to ride a few more miles, Bill came in from his ride with a friend. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect and he turned and together we rode a few more miles.
By the time we cruised into our driveway, Bill had ridden 72 miles and I’d completed 42 miles. Not only was it my longest ride of the year, but it was my fastest as well.
Monday
Monday started with a 5-mile walk around my neighborhood, followed by seeing clients before lifting weights and doing my PT homework. I didn’t get outside for my walk until 7:15 AM because I’m really trying to got more sleep… I need to go to bed earlier since I love getting up before the sun.
Tuesday
I tore into our kitchen after my Tuesday morning bike ride with Betsy declaring to my husband, “I love cycling!” We had ridden hard and I scored my fastest ride of the year, clocking in at 14.3 MPH. Not that I’m competitive with myself or anything…
Later in the morning I saw my physical therapist for a one hour-session.
Wednesday
A 4-mile walk at a 15:18 pace got me going early in the morning on Wednesday. I followed it up with an hour of strength training before virtually seeing clients. Later I checked off my physical therapy homework before calling it a day.
Thursday
I decided to keep it simple again and ride inside on my spin bike (affiliate link) on Thursday morning completing 15 miles at a steady 16.3 MPH. I saw my physical therapist Ashley mid-day where we fine tuned some of my PT exercises. We decided to move to meeting once a week going forward.
Friday
Bill decided to take the day off from work so I moved my only appointment, teaching my balance and stretching class virtually, up a couple of hours so we could go to Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane, VA for a hike (I’d gotten up early and lifted and did my PT homework while Bill was out on a ride with friends). At Sky Meadows, we chose a 4-mile loop – Piedmont to Ambassador Whitehouse and back. It’s a steep climb up, but since we did the out-and-back version we were treated with the easier part last. At 82° when we started we were plenty toasty as about 50% of our hike was out in the open. Fortunately, lower humidity saved the day.
View from the first set of benches part of the way up the hill…
View from the top…
The highlight of my day was feeding the chickens outside the visitor’s center at the end of our hike. LOL
Saturday
After promising myself that Saturday would be a total rest day, I woke up at 6:30 and decided to join Bill, Joseph, and Julie for their ride – FOMO is real, ya’ll! As I scurried to get dressed and get my gear together I didn’t; however, take time to eat a blueberry bagel (my usual pre-ride fuel), deciding that I’d be fine for a 20-mile ride with only a few gels along the way. It was 74° and delightful as we rode to the trail to meet Joseph and Julie – it was going to be a great day!
Near the turnaround point there was another failure-to-clip-out incident were I came up behind a rider and as I started to pass him, I saw a rider coming toward me so I pulled back in behind the rider I was attempting to pass. I had to come to a near stop and couldn’t unclip quickly enough and over I went. Ugh, so embarrassing! Another rider stopped to see if I was okay and it wasn’t until I hopped on my bike to resume that I realized that my chain had come off in the fall. Julie rode ahead to get Bill and he came back and fixed my chain. Now at least I’ll know what to do in the future if my chain comes off…
Shortly after my little accident, I bonked while ascending a very long and steep hill. I’m usually able to maintain at least 12 MPH on that hill, but I slowed to 5.4 MPH and felt lucky that I didn’t have to get off and push my bike. Keep in mind that I only hit the wall once in 40 marathons, but I’ve bonked 3 times in the last 2 years while biking.
At the bottom of the hill, Bill shared a fuel bar with me and that plus chowing down on a few more Honey Stinger energy chews (affiliate link) and Clif Bloks (affiliate link) did the trick and I felt great on my return home.
As we neared the end of our ride, we swung by our bench to show it to Joseph and Julie since they’d never seen it. We ended the ride at 34 miles (longer than I’d expected) at 13.4 MPH average speed.
Here’s What You Might Have Missed
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
- Sunday – Weekly RunDown: June 14 Through 20
- Tuesday – 2020 Virtual Freihofer’s Run for Women 5K Race Recap
- Thursday – Runfessions of a Simple Girl Trying to Master Internet Stuff and Gadgets
Questions:
- • Are you competitive with yourself, with others?
- • Have you gone hiking this summer?
- • Did you run in a virtual race this weekend?
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.
Activity needs fuel. Nuff said.
That hike looks amazing! I so want to go hiking . . . haven’t managed it yet. Although I heard about a new place I want to check out — not so much hiking, but walking & we can bring the dogs. Now if I can find a day with decent weather, plus I want to get down to my mom’s . . .
I enjoy my stationary bike & the peloton rides. Real biking is not my thing!
“Activity needs fuel,” ain’t that the truth and of course I know better…
We plan to do more local hikes in the coming weeks – just wish they didn’t require quite such a long drive to get there.
Wow impressive bike mileage this week! I am always surprised that outdoor cycling takes a very different fueling need. I can hit the wall fast! Thanks for linking and have a good week!![My Profile](https://debruns.com/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/littleheartplus.png)
Deborah Brooks recently posted…Weekly Run Down Slacking off week?
Thanks, Deborah!
Awesome job on all of your workouts this week! I love that the weather has been good enough for you to enjoy more cycling and an outside hike.
Thanks, Kim! Yes, the weather has been pretty cooperative.
I haven’t done enough long-distance cycling to need to worry about fuel…yet. I always bring water, though. Those clip-ins are menaces …yet another example of why I’m perfectly content to boycott them LOL Congrats on all those miles, though 😉
Thanks, Kim! And about clipping in, I’m beginning to think that the old saying is correct, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. LOL
I haven’t done enough cycling to know how to fuel properly, but I know my ironman friends eat a ton on the bike! You need some fuel for all those miles!
Glad the weather has been so good for hiking and biking!
Generally, I fuel before a longer bike ride like I would before a longer run and stop to take fueling breaks as needed just like when running. I think I need to eat a banana in addition to my bagel for my pre-ride breakfast. I’m still learning, that’s for sure!
Glad you are enjoying your bike rides so much! That sounds like a great way to get in your workouts outdoors while not running. The unclipping sounds really tricky! Glad it all worked out ok!
Thanks! We have a fun ride planned for Independence Day in Frederick, MD!
Such a fun week for you! I love how much you are loving cycling!
I did go hiking this summer – in the mountains no less. I think I am running my virtual 5K tomorrow. I am also working on two virtual challenges: the Best Damn Race Florida Challenge (1000K with a teammate) and Hadrian’s Wall (90 miles solo). Chipping away at both!
Yay for hiking in the mountains! I need to look and see if there is any sort of virtual ride across Virginia that we can do. If not, perhaps I should just make one up!
Glad that you did not suffer any injury from the fall. I never rode a proper sports kinds. I have some experience of riding kids bikes. 😉 If that even counts…![My Profile](https://debruns.com/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/littleheartplus.png)
Madhusree Basu recently posted…The 32 Best Gifts For A Running Coach in 2020
Thank you, Madhusree!
I didn’t run much either last week! Nor did I do much of anything! HA! It was super steamy and I was preoccupied with other stuff so it is what it is. I think your other activities turned out to be great!
• Are you competitive with yourself, with others? I am not very competitive at all. Not physically in any case!
• Have you gone hiking this summer? We have not been hiking! I do like to hike but I have issue with what the Dutch consider hiking here 🙂 It’s flat and the “forest” is forest for them, but not to me. I’d rather bike!
• Did you run in a virtual race this weekend? I did not! But I’ll run in Kim’s Bix 7 virtual near the end of July, just for fun.
How fun that you’re joining Kim for the Bix 7! That’s funny about your thoughts on what’s a forest versus the Dutch’s.
I’m definitely competitive with myself, not so much with others. It’s just so much fun to beat those old records.![My Profile](https://debruns.com/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/littleheartplus.png)
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie recently posted…Weekly Eats: a 5k PR and a group run
Yes, it is fun to set new PR’s! Unfortunately at my age, my running PR’s are way out of grasp. Guess I’ll just have to chase some biking PR’s. 😉
No running but you had a great week with so many other activities!!!
Glad to know you are OK and not injured after your fall.
Sometimes I am competitive with myself. I like to do better and beat some old records and seeing my improvement.![My Profile](https://debruns.com/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/littleheartplus.png)
Zenaida Arroyo recently posted…Tuesday Topics: Goodbye June and Hello July
Thanks, Zenaida! I am happy to have plenty of other options to keep me active.